self-image

"When I was younger, I was chubby. It gave me a terrible sense of SELF-IMAGE, and I guess I carry that around with me still." - Brandon Flowers (musician, lead singer and songwriter with The Killers)

When you look in the mirror, do you like yourself? What self-image do you see? Do you see the specially crafted, one-of-a-kind miracle creation? Or do you see something else - too fat, too skinny, big nose, little nose, pretty, ugly, smart, dumb, happy, sad, too short, too tall, winner, or loser? Ultimately, you are unique, important and your story counts. Your weaknesses are designed to be your platform to help other people and your failures are lessons the world needs to hear.

Shawna "Silent No More"

"I have felt like I was at a standstill in my life. I desperately wanted to reach out and help others like me, who had been through so much to find strength to never give up. To keep going and to find their voice.

I realized after reaching for help that so many others like me were suffering in fear and silence about these issues.

Despite all the obstacles in my life I am not giving up on my dreams to become a nurse and to help other women who lived through what I have to find their voice and never give up. I just want people to see that no matter how hard life was or what you’ve been through that there is always hope. I have managed to find good despite all the bad things that have happened."

Clay's Story "I Accepted It As Me"

This path of continued discovery allowed myself to be vulnerable with others around me. This path may have looked silly to some but it was an act that allowed me to catch people smiling and enjoying difference. What this act was all started from a desire to just embrace who I was as an individual.

Cindy and Will's Story "Bald is Beautiful"

We try to teach Will that he is just the way God made him and that "bald is beautiful". Unfortunately, he's 9-years-old and only wants to look like his peers. Will has social anxiety and bites on his fingers and his skin until it bleeds.

Eli's Story "The Challenging Gift"

He's often VERY hard on himself -- severe perfectionism to the point that he frequently calls himself the "worst kid in the world" because he's "always messing up everything." We have a very loving home, so it's heartbreaking to hear these things come out of his mouth even though we tell him frequently that he's smart, God has big plans for him, and we love him unconditionally.

Brenna's Story "Inside My Fishbowl"

"I have been told that my mind should be stronger than the anxiety, that my feelings and fears had no legitimate source and were therefore not worthy of acknowledgement or consideration. I think it is difficult for people who do not know this struggle personally to understand how real it is. The obsessions and compulsions; the nausea, shaking, heart palpitations, and blurred vision; the weakness, numbness, and tingling—it is all real; I feel it."

KRISTA'S STORY "CHAPTER 1 - HOPE"

"Strip away all those things that you believe define you. Or, maybe not define you entirely, but rather identify you. Strip away those things that you believe characterize you--the good qualities that you are prideful of."

Jake's Story "Content"

Lydia's Story "Potential For Love"

"I’ve spent a huge portion of my life thus far suffocating my potential for love with envy. I remember being eleven years old, overweight, and wanting to be as thin as the girls I went to school with."

Brandy's Story "Pathways To Healing"

"What has manifested for me that has been so amazing? Part of my healing now is learning to speak my truth and seeing my complete authentic self. I have worn rose colored sunglasses for a long time. It was my way of hiding. I am becoming who I was meant to be."